Portland & Seattle

People used to always say to us after a big trip to somewhere, "You're smart to do all of your traveling before you had kids." Joshy and I took all kinds of vacations together....a cross country road trip, a month long tour of Europe, a couple of cruises, a day in Chicago, a week in Hawaii, and countless others. Basically, we love to travel any chance we get. But, people seemed to want us to think that once a baby was in the picture, travel would no longer be a part of our lives. However, we made the choice to not let that happen. We have no intentions of stopping.

We've already taken a few mini trips with Clark...a few days in Atlanta and a long weekend in North Carolina visiting family. But with these silly hot temperatures we've been experiencing, the cool, humidity free summers of the Northwest were calling my name, and I found myself perusing airline prices. So off we went, clear across the country to visit Devon and Chris in Portland with our 6 month old in tow.

It turns out, Clark loves to travel just as much as we do. He never fussed on the long plane rides, he loved to people watch and see the sights, and he took his naps in his stroller, easy peasy. He even managed to switch to the Pacific time zone without problems.

We had a blast escaping the heat to the evergreen forests of Oregon and Washington. Upon our arrival, Devon and Chris greeted us at the airport and let us stay at their place...they're excellent hosts and tour guides. On our first day in Portland, we celebrated Devon's birthday by visiting the Rose Gardens and Multomah Falls. We also had the opportunity to see 4th of July fireworks exploding all over the city from our viewpoint of the Portland skyline. The next day we hopped in the car and traveled out to Cannon Beach, which is possibly my favorite view in the entire world. Our day included a little shopping, a little eating, and a little photo session with a fellow FINDer. I can't wait to see her images!

Friday we did some H&M shopping and lunched in downtown Portland before packing up the car and making the drive to Seattle. While there, we ate our way through Pike Place Market, watched the boats go through the locks, took a ferry to Bainbridge Island, and finally visited the Space Needle. We arrived home on Monday after our 6 day trip exhausted and already missing the cool summer weather. Overall it was a great trip, and I may or may not be thinking about a return in the next year or two.

Once again, I can't say enough about how great Clark did the entire trip. We dragged that baby everywhere, and he went with the flow of it all. He had a lot of firsts on this trip...first time to the ocean, first time to put his feet in the sand, first plane ride. I know he won't remember any of it, but that just means we get to experience it with him all over again when he's older. I imagine we'll be taking lots more trips with him.

I mostly shot film while we were gone, so it will be a few weeks before I have those images to share, but I do have my Toy camera pictures and some photos from Joshy's phone.

Ready for take off!

At our connection, stretching his legs.

Our flight wasn't full, so he fell asleep on the seat between us.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please make sure your tray table is in its upright and locked position."

A view of Mt. Hood as we landed in Portland.

Celebrating Devon's birthday at Benihana.

At the Rose Gardens.

Multnomah Falls! I missed seeing this last time I was in Portland....I was excited!

Leaving the falls...I love this shot of Devon and Chris.

A viewpoint not too far from the falls. That's Washington across the river.

Aunt Devon!

Mo's at Cannon Beach. Yumm!

In the Toy Shoppe....

...and at the candy store. See why I love Cannon Beach?

Taffy!

This was during our photo session with Natalie Grummer (in yellow). I know her images are going to be beautiful!

Clark's first taste of sand! Literally....

Seriously love this place.

See why it's my favorite?

We made it to Denny's while we were there...it's kinda our thing when we travel. This makes 11 states!

Devon's first Denny's experience.

And a little shopping downtown.

He's such a happy baby.

We made a pit stop at Voodoo doughnuts before leaving for Seattle.

Clark wanted a bite. I can't blame him. It was delicious.

On the road to Seattle.

Pike Place Market!!!

We ate Russian for breakfast, Greek for lunch, a bite of shrimp for a snack, and the tastiest peach I've ever had.

Yep. My baby is cute. And I know I'm looking through the mommy-goggles, but come on!

On a boat!

It was windy.

And finally, the Space Needle. We didn't go to the top.
So there you have it! I will post the film when it comes in!